我们在参观一些博物馆时,常常会看见玻璃陈列橱里有一组陶制的打马球彩俑,他们骑在马上,手执打马球长木棍,追逐一个小球。这就是马球运动。现在,它是蒙古牧民的传统体育节目。马球是波斯入发明的。波斯人至少在公元前三千年就已开始玩马球了。不过那时的球是一只麝香鼠,参加比赛的骑手多达三百人,骑着个头矮小的马或毛驴,场地大小不限,比赛直到捉住老鼠才算终场。夏天时,老鼠为木制的球所替代,也许是用挖出的树根修成的。晚上比赛时,木球被烧上火,缓慢燃烧,好看得清楚。后来,才出现了用羊皮做的球。到了公元前六世纪,一位波斯国王对它发生 When we visited some museums, we often saw a set of ceramic polo-dotted terracotta warriors in glass showcases. They rode immediately and took the polo long wooden sticks and pursued a small ball. This is polo. It is now a traditional sports program for pastoralists in Mongolia. Polo was invented by Persia. The Persians have started playing polo at least 3000 BC. However, the ball was a muskrat at that time. As many as 300 riders competed in the race, riding short little horses or donkeys, the size of the venue was limited. In summer, mice were replaced by wooden balls, perhaps with dug roots. At night, the ball was burned, slowly burning, well see clearly. Later, there was a ball made of sheepskin. By the sixth century BC, a Persian king took it upon him